Meta Question

How is the division made between General and Social?

I’ve often found it difficult to figure out whether a question belongs in General or Social. For example, often I will be eliciting opinions on weighty subjects, with expectations of long, well thought out positions rather than a straw poll of every runny nose with a keyboard and two working fingers. The way General is described makes it sound like it’s restricted to questions with factual, verifiable answers, but Social is clearly not the place for deep discussion, since the description says that humour and off-topic answering is encouraged.

23 Answers

In General, people have to stay on topic. While humour is allowed, it really can’t stray from the subject at hand at all. For that reason, I guess that makes it a lot more accessible for people who do need factual answers, although long discussions and opinions can also occur.

In Social, well you can pretty much do whatever you want lol. (the guidelines don’t say it, but looking on how it works, it pretty much entails it XD) A lot of intelligent and constructive stuff can be seen in social though. It just doesn’t have the stay on topic restraints that General does. Because of that, discussions in social tend to go every which way; which can often be interesting. It can lead to discussions which might not happen in General because of its restrictions. Of course, sometimes it just gets silly lol, and I’m often at fault for this. XD
At least that’s how I understand it anyways. If I’m wrong, well check out the guidelines and see what they say about each section. Probably your best bet in understanding what they’re all for.

Yeah, @Symbeline is correct. It is really up to you how Much you are willing to tolerate answers that might be off topic. If you want answers that only address your specific question with little wiggle room on wandering of to related topics, then stay in general. If you want to put a question out there and see where it might wind up down a windy path, go with Social.

Thank you for your effort; it’s because of people like you that Fluther is one of the best places to have thoughtful discussions and learn new things.

Both versions include the assumption that there may be thoughtful discussion, so it seems that “eliciting opinions on weighty subjects, with expectations of long, well thought out positions” is perfectly appropriate for General. And indeed, that is how the section has always been run.

I usually post in General when I really don’t want the discussion to go off track and I want a very specific answer. If I don’t mind some wandering OR if I want some debate and to get a range of more detailed ideas on a topic (even if some of them are a little off-the-beaten track) I will post in Social.

When I ask a question in the general section I do so because I want the thread to stay on topic. Also, I use general to protect my questions from wisecrackers who have nothing better to do than try to pick apart a question instead of answering it. I don’t think the general section is that restricted and it still allows for many different and variable responses. I would only ask a question in social for a less serious topic. To me general section means serious discussion, social means anything goes.

Instead of dividing the questions between general and social, then, would it not make more sense to divide the answers? So a person who wanted to give a factual answer could flag it as general, while someone who wanted to give a “wacky” answer could flag it as social — and people could choose which thread they prefer to follow from the question (or both, if they like). It would solve the problem of questions which fit both categories.

I don’t think there should be any division based on answers. The old policy of “Don’t fuck around until a solution is posted” worked well.

I don’t care if you think Obama is a secret Muslim, or if you like pizza and think fags are destroying the country. I wanted them to put those (fake) questions someplace else to clean up the part I actually like. The part the that actually solves problems. Now it is just a big clusterfuck.

Seems to me if you really wanted an answer to a technical problem, there are better internet sources than Fluther. What does everybody expect from a “social” site if not mostly subjective opinions. Many people, including people on Fluther, like to hear themselves talk. Isn’t that kind of the point?

@saint Maybe that’s why the site has changed (assuming people ask fewer technical questions)... has Fluther been around long enough for users to figure out how to search what’s already on the internet more effectively? Or has the amount of information out there since reached some critical mass, such that it now makes more sense to search for information than to ask for it?